People vs tech – striking the right balance

Last month, robot chefs hit the headlines again with British robotics firm Moley launching Moley Chef’s Table: “I was cooked lunch by a £50,000 robot – but after waiting 40 minutes for a vegan soup I think chefs’ jobs are safe for now!” quotes The Daily Mail. Such noise around, AI and technology takeovers is nothing new. Usually, each innovation or launch is greeted with the same media mock-horror, predicting the death of great British pubs and restaurants in favour of a faceless, fully automated service. The truth is, of course, somewhat more nuanced. In order to find out more about this complex relationship between people’s attitude to technology, their preconceptions of it, and their actual experience of it in restaurants, pubs and bars we took a deep dive into the subject in our most recent GO Technology report in partnership with CGA by NielsenIQ . As part of this, we surveyed over 5,000 UK consumers to find out more about if they think tech improves their customer experience and where they think it works. Or doesn’t. Some of the results confirmed the obvious but served as an important reminder – 73% of people say personal interaction is the main reason they prefer human contact as part of the hospitality experience, for example. Or how 50% of those who prefer tech to human interaction are aged 18-to-34. For the most part, however, the answers revealed some interesting insights. Significantly, for an industry in need of driving additional spend in the face of squeezed margins, a key finding of the report is that consumers who prefer tech as part of their hospitality experience are more valuable than those who do not. The research also shows these technophiles have higher household incomes on average - £10,100 higher in fact – and they spend an average of £24 a month more on eating and drinking out than those who say they prefer human interaction. It’s the speed and convenience that tech brings which is attractive to this customer group. The extra time saved when making reservations and settling the bill are important to people and adds a lot of value, while consumers also like the greater accuracy and control tech brings to their experiences. What became very clear from the research, is that finding the balance between human interaction and tech is where the real sweet spot for operators lies, with 55% of consumers saying that for them, a balance between technology and a human touch delivers the best hospitality experiences. Clearly people continue to value the face-to-face social experience of hospitality and savvy operators will be looking to capitalise on this and to invest in technology that frees-up teams from mundane and time-consuming tasks, allowing them to dedicate time and attention instead to delivering great face-to-face service. In the end, this must be the ultimate goal for hospitality tech providers and operators alike. For those wondering how to achieve that balance today, the survey indicates that adopting tech touchpoints at the booking stage can be beneficial. Consumers demand technology-based booking and reservation systems, with nearly half of restaurant goers (47%) preferring to make table bookings via technology, while even more want to be able to cancel bookings (51%) or get reminders without having to contact someone (60%). At the same time, once through the door, nearly three in five consumers prefer to be able to place food orders, settle bills and leave tips with a member of staff. Of course, this relates only to consumer-facing tech and, as we are all aware, much of what hospitality tech helps with happens in the background. And these pieces of tech, if used in the right way, can help deliver the right balance in-venue and enhance the service staff provide. Integrated systems that tell the front of house team the names and preferences of diners that have just arrived, informs them what dishes are no longer available, and what ingredients and allergens are in dishes in order for them, in turn, to inform customers are key to delivering an exceptional guest experience. At the same time, such systems will alert kitchen teams, in real-time, what has been ordered, when, by which table, and any special requests, for example. Some of this is still a little way off, of course, but our research clearly shows that even now technology, when used effectively at certain touchpoints throughout the customer journey, can help to create that hospitality magic. As for those robot chefs? Most consumers agree with our Daily Mail journalist, with more than half (56%) saying venues should not use robots even to handle repetitive tasks behind the scenes. For now, it seems, this tips the balance a little too far. To download a copy of Zonal’s latest Go Technology Report ‘People vs Tech,’ visit Zonal’s website .

People vs tech – striking the right balance

The chief sales and marketing officer at leading hospitality technology company Zonal discusses some new research into consumer attitudes to in-restaurant technology.

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